What Passes On Elven Shores
by Miss Kristin of the Shire
Summary: Sam ponders over Frodo's life in Valinor and reflects upon the nature of their friendship now that they are separated by the Sea. Written in semi-poetical form.


What Passes On Elven Shores

Though my days are full and my hands are always busy, seemingly  
There's not a day that goes by that I don't spare a thought for you  
Where my heart reaches out to yours and wishes you all the joy in the world  
When I pass on silent words I know you can't hear, what with you being so far from me  
So far from home  
But then a funny notion strikes me that maybe you _can_ hear the blessings that I wish on you at the closing of every day  
Not hear them exactly, the way you hear birds chirping or leaves rustling in the wind  
But sort of feel them in your bones, or with some other sense I can't put a name to  
Maybe that sounds like a lot of foolishness, but something inside tells me otherwise

Many is the time when my thoughts have travelled across the great distance of the Sea  
What's it like where you are, I wonder?  
The Undying Lands  
I've heard strange talk of them in Elrond's halls, but I can't make it out in my head  
But I imagine what it would be like  
A place where beauty never fades  
Where a draught of air is sweeter than the sweetest wine  
Where winter-time brings no frost, but the passing seasons grow more splendid and warmer still  
Where time flows slow like syrup and the hours bring a strength and wholesomeness like no place in all the world

What fare do you sit down to at meal-times when you have an appetite?  
Are your tables laden with the choicest meats  
And bread that melts in your mouth the moment it hits your tongue?  
Is your cup refilled no sooner than it's drained?  
Do they send sweet apples to your door by the barrelful?  
Do they stock your cupboards with fresh cream and salted butter?  
Is your table laid out the way I used to set it, long ago?  
Are you well taken care of, better even than your Sam could have taken care of you?

Does the sunshine burst behind the clouds brilliant like Gandalf's fireworks?  
Do your gardens teem with flowers of the most beautiful kinds and colours?  
Does it rain on elven shores  
And if if it does, does it fall like drops of pure crystal and land with a sound like music?  
Do you use stars to light your candles when night falls  
Or wrap yourself up in a coverlet of white clouds?  
Is every word from your lips a sound of joy  
And every dream full of gladness and wonder?

Have all your hurts been healed, really and truly healed?  
Has the coldness left your limbs the way snow melts after a spring thaw?  
Have your troubles been driven out like they were no worse than a spell of bad weather?  
Is your heart happy and your eyes clear and unclouded?  
Is your mind free from darkness and your spirit rested and at peace?  
Is the beating of your heart strong and hale?  
Does life flow within you stronger and truer than before?

If I came to you, would you run to meet me or sit by quiet and still as I approached?  
Would tears start in your eyes if they locked onto mine, if tears ever fall in the Blessed Lands,  
Or would they shine with remembrance and look upon me calm and steady?  
Would you open your arms to me and let me in?  
If I held you tight, would you hold on tighter still?  
If I returned to you, as I mean to someday,  
Would it be like going home after a long journey?  
Are your memories of me unspoilt or do they bring back a reminder of old pains?

What tales would you tell me of your new life with the Elves?  
How many stories will I bring back of home  
And would they still hold an interest for you?  
Would you remember the songs you used to sing in The Shire  
Or has the Sea drownded them and made you forget?  
Will things go back to the way they were before all our troubles?  
Will we fall back into our old ways or will it be like starting over again?  
Will we know each other the way we used to  
Or will you be changed so as I'll have to rub my eyes to make sure it's really you?

I wish I could talk with you about it all, I wish I could see how you're keeping  
Just a peep of you are you are now would be a load off my mind  
Half a moment in the Undying Lands would be enough, I'd wager  
The pictures in my head must only by a shadow of their true beauty  
If I'd a been born with twice the wits that I have, I couldn't describe them half so well  
But I've got a bit longer to wait yet, sir

I suppose that I'll keep puzzling over the same old questions from time to time  
But perhaps I shouldn't think too hard on things that are beyond my reckoning  
Where my head comes up short, I'll listen to my heart instead  
And if you could know just one thing,  
I'd have you know that when the sun goes down and a hush falls upon the land  
When I'm lying abed at nightfall and naught can be heard but the sound of the little ones sleeping  
I say a prayer for you, Mr. Frodo  
Please let him be safe, I say to myself,  
Safe and comfortable and loved, the way he ought  
And let his happiness increase with each day  
Don't let the old coldness touch him anymore  
Let his wounds be healed and his burdens lifted  
After all he's been through

I say goodnight but never goodbye  
I made that mistake once before  
But never again  
And though my voice can't reach your ears  
Though my hand can't grab hold of yours nor my arms circle round you  
I am always near you

I shan't forget all you sacrificed, and no mistake  
How could I forget when everything reminds me of what you helped to save?  
The earth under my fingers, the flowers all in bloom  
The family that I cherish and the friends I hold dear  
There's a bit of you in all of it  
Perhaps you're not so far off, as I once thought  
Maybe you are looking after us, after your own manner  
Maybe you set your own blessings on The Shire when the sun sinks behind the evergreens  
Maybe your good wishes hover above us like a shimmer of stardust  
Like a fragrance in the air or a warmth in the blood

Maybe when I'm missing you hardest  
My soul flies out to find yours, over mountaintop and oceans wide  
And is at last greeted by you, and finds welcome and relief  
For if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that there can be no sadness where you are  
So neither will I be sad  
Not when we've really been together all along  
Though my eyes have never looked upon Elvenhome  
Nor my feet stood upon the shores of Valinor


End file.
